2015.8.1

MWB Braillewriter

(a) Braillewriter: Crackled gray cast-aluminum base with open cutouts beneath keyboard; fixed crackled gray steel diebox arches over the paper roller assembly; a separate steel plate is screwed over the gap between the base and the diebox, and features paper label, "Mechanische Werkstatt fur Blindenhilfsmittel der DDR/Leipzig"; seven wooden braille keys with ivory plastic tops, slightly splayed; oval space bar extends out in middle, steel key-bars; nickel-steel back space lever is mounted on base to right of keyboard; flapper style carriage release lever is on left side of base; crackled gray and nickel steel carriage; main lower paper roller is black enameled wood and has a spring loaded aluminum paper clamp inset down its length and two 1" diameter Bakelite knobs on sides; smaller diameter black rubber-covered steel paper roller is mounted above the main roller and held in place by spring-loaded bars; toothed steel margin set bar on back of carriage with two wire-spring nickel steel sets; carriage return pulley beneath front left of carriage, mounted to steel carriage rod; stamped on bottom of base, "283"; stamped under carriage, "4486"; (b) case: trapezoidal shape, cardboard covered with red and red plaid vinyl; nickel plated "tuck lock" latch; vinyl strap carrying handle on front.

H-3.5 W-15.5 D-9.5 inches

ca. 1965

Mechanische Werkstatt fur Blindenhilfsmittel der DDR

Leipzig, East Germany

A design based upon the post World War II work of Karl Neubert. By 1949, Karl Neubert was listed in a Leipzig city directory as a manufacturer of braille machines at Burgauenstrasse 9. Surviving examples of Neubert's work include a Picht inspired six key braillewriter design (see 2018.25) and six and seven-point stenographic writers. By the early 1960s, it appears that Neubert's shop and designs had been taken over by the Mechanische Werkstatt fur Blindenhilfsmittel der DDR, the manufacturing arm of the Deutsche Zentralbücherei für Blinde(DZB) in Leipzig, East Germany after WWII. Paul Georgi, a WWII veteran, became director of the Werkstatt in 1961. Founded in 1894, the DZB is the oldest library for the blind in Germany.
This is a perfect copy of the Neubert design. This writer is pictured in a 1963 DZB catalog (see file). The label design here suggests a pre-1974 date of manufacture. In 1975, the design for this writer was turned over to the Robotron Typewriter Factory in Dresden. An updated version came out later that year under the brand name Erika-Picht, which continued to be available until German reunification in 1990.

Museum Purchase, 2015.8.